Power Rangers: Different Shades
by AdrianTepes001
Summary: It's almost the same story as told once before, with the same characters and some new ones, all in different shades..
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own PR, Saban does. However the original characters are

MINE. This takes place after "The Trouble with ShellShock."

A dirt road outside of Angel Grove:

"This is the song that never ends, it goes on and on my friends-"

"Will you please shut up?"

"Is that a request or--"

"Just shut up."

Ken chuckled quietly as he heard the argument continue. 'As loud as those two are, you'd never think they had never met before this trip'. He turned his face toward the warmth of the sunlight as it poured through the window. Behind him, the two voices had quieted but he could still hear the odd word being spoken. The male voice belonged to Brian Lewis, who spoke with a barely discernible New England accent. 'Brian sounded like a friendly guy, he spoken Japanese introducing himself before I said one word to him'. The other voice belonged to a girl named Elizabeth Sarah Douglas as she had introduced herself with a slight drawl. She was from Texas and on this trip because her father wanted her to get out and see the world, she told him.

On the seat behind him, Ken heard the sound of someone shifting his weight around. He turned slightly towards the rear.

"I know Jonathan, these seats aren't top of the line quality like they promised. At least there aren't any fresh stains on them that I can tell. What about yours?"

He waited and no answer came. Sighing he turned back towards the warmth of the mid morning sun. 'He hasn't said more than five words since yesterday. Eight years is a long time to grieve brother. You must rejoin the land of the living soon'.

He searched briefly for the book he had been reading; he found it and opened it to where the bookmark was. Ken picked up where he left on his 'reading' as his fingertips traced the familiar dots that made words and sentences and brought images to his sightless eyes.

On the Moon

"Finster!"

"Yes my Queen?"

"I can't believe this, you let those two morons waste time, material and my magic on some idiotic, childish monster, they created." Finster stood and cringed as Rita Repulsa heaped more verbal abuse on him for several minutes. She had been in a foul mood since the Green Ranger's defection and the dismal failure of ShellShock made things only worse. ShellShock had been doing remarkably, considering both his creators and his actual creation, until the Yellow Ranger had returned with the Deandra flowers. The legendary plants had negated the monsters more formidable attacks and the Red Ranger's zord had destroyed him.

"My queen, I have news", another voice interrupted.

Rita turned and glared at who dared to interrupt her rant.

"What is it Goldar? And it better be GOOD!"

The loyal ape-like warrior cowered slightly but spoke.

"We've found a bus full of teenagers just outside of Angel Grove-".

"You found a bus full of teenagers and you interrupt me for THAT! You idiotic, smelly, dense-".

"Have mercy my queen but, there is something special about these teenagers, The

Crystal of Detection said so."

Rita stopped at the mention of the Crystal, "It did? How?"

"When we first sighted them, the Crystal began glowing, your highness."

"That means they must have some sort of power among them, which I can take and use against the Rangers," she cried out in evil delight. Smiling she set off for the throne room, her mind awash in the possibilities.

Mrs. Applebee's class, less then 5 minutes before the bell.

Jason watched the clock intently for a few seconds, and then turned his attention to the rest of the class. Zack had Tommy and Kim's attention and was describing a visit by his uncle, a retired magician. The expression on Tommy's face indicated that he was fascinated by what Zack was saying. Kim's expression was more mirthful, doubtless due to the wild mannerisms.

Billy and Trini were quietly talking about an incident in Billy's Garage lab. 'I wonder if Billy ever does anything but work in there after school'. Trini appeared to halt the conversation as she got on the floor and attempted to retrieve something from behind her desk. With her back turned, she was unable to see Billy's face, as he appeared to focus on her backside and hips.

Hearing a gentle coughing sound, Billy looked up to see Jason's grinning face.

He also saw that Zack had abandoned his tale and along with Kim and Tommy had been watching him. His face reddened slightly as he turned to face the front of the class, silently praying for the bell to ring. Behind him he heard Trini return to her seat as she arranged her books.

Any further musing was cut short as the bell rung and the students filed out with the usual noises. Jason waited momentarily as Zack, Kim and Tommy joined him. He waited until both of them cleared the doorway before turning to his friends.

"Poor Billy, watch he's going to act weird for the rest of the day" Kimberly said.

"You mean weirder then usual? I'm only kidding. But, you know it was kind of funny seeing him act like that" Zack replied. "What do you mean?" Tommy wanted to know.

Kim sighed briefly then told him, "Billy's had a crush on Trini since 7th grade, he's never told her and if you ask him about it, he'll get really embarrassed and won't speak to you for awhile."

"Doesn't she know, I mean Kim you're her best friend"

"Nope, Billy threatened to dye my hair purple permanently if I said anything to her about it."

"Oh."

"Billy's Billy, one day I'm sure he'll tell her in his own time and way" Jason told his best friend.

Tommy paused, considering this information. 'I've only known Billy for a few days but, yeah I can see him acting like that. My first real memory of Billy is when he handed me my communicator. He didn't hold anything against me just greeted me like we've been friends for life'. Tommy shook himself out of his mental reverie, noticing Zack had a peculiar expression on his face.

"What's the matter Zack?"

"I don't know I just got a real bad feeling all of a sudden."

As if to confirm his words, the lights went out, plunging the hallway into darkness.

Less then 15 miles outside of Angel Grove.

Jonathan shifted slightly in his seat, attempting to find a more comfortable position. The material squeaked slightly but remained as rigid as ever. Without expression, he turned his blue eyes on the passing landscape. Behind him, he heard the voices of the other passengers his age speaking in hushed tones. 'Guess some people make friends easily, but no one would want to be my friend. Not now not ever.' A look of concern and anguish crossed his face then was gone. He stared out at the world beyond the bus window, not truly seeing anything.

"That guy is a few cards short of a full deck."

"Would you shut up for five minutes?"

The blonde girl turned and glared at the boy she had been arguing with. Determining that further conversation might be harmful to his health, he went silent. He slid back in his seat to watch the girl and the rest of his traveling companions. 'Dad did say the purpose of this trip is meet new people. Too bad he forgot to mention that the new people were a bunch of weirdoes'. Brian turned slightly to examine the girl, Elizabeth.

The short blonde firecracker with green-eyes from Texas had proven remarkably easy to talk to. Forthright and not afraid to speak her mind, Elizabeth Douglas had made an impression as someone NOT to annoy. She did seem to be studying the blind kid across the way intently. 'Wonder what that's all about?' Ken held the book he was 'reading' in his lap, his fingertips moving line by line down the page.

Brian's gaze shifted to the seat behind Ken occupied by his brother. Jonathan was looking out the window as he had been for the entire trip. The other boy had barely said anything other 'thank you' in the past few days. 'I wonder what happened to his real parents that's he living with a Japanese family?'

"Hey moron."

Brian turned his head to the seat in front of his occupied by a grinning Asian boy with black hair pulled back into an oddly shaped braid.

"Putz."

"Liz get the best of you once again?"

Brian did an imitation of the death glare he had received, causing the other boy to start laughing.

"All right Sheng, see how funny it is when she does it to you"

Sheng stopped laughing after a few minutes but the mirthful look on his face remained. The flamboyant, cocky youth and the friendly yet, imposing kid from New England had become fast friends. It helped they had a lot in common, sports, music, cars and a passion for the stranger side of comedy. Together they had managed to while away the boredom of the bus rides and entertain their fellow passengers. Sheng noted that Brian had become silent undoubtedly dreaming up some sort of prank to get revenge on Liz. He turned his attention to the remaining person on this trip besides the driver.

She was a Japanese girl with long black hair that reached past her shoulders 'Sakura' she spoke her name with gentleness in her voice. 'She's quiet too though not as quiet as the other kid. I wonder how she got roped into this joyride'.

As he watched she reached into her purse and removed something, which proved to be a mirror. 'What is she doing with that?' She maneuvered it somewhat before a position she was satisfied with and left it. Sheng blinked twice as he wondered what was going.

Sakura wondered how she had ended up here. Her mother who lived vicariously through her daughter had arranged the trip. 'Mom never got to see the world, so now I have to just so I can tell her about it. She just decided that now was a good a time as any for a trip as any. She didn't even bother asking me, just packed my bags and sent me off here. I shouldn't be mad I guess how many girls get to go visit another country especially ones with only one parent. Still America wasn't what I thought it would be. Then again', she caught the image of Jonathan in the mirror, 'maybe it was worth it'. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth but remained hidden. 'He's so handsome all the girls back home could be so jealous'. She idly imagined those brown eyes on her and mentally giggled at the thought.

Angel Grove High School.

The first few seconds after the lights went out had been filled with a few yelps of surprise. Those had given away to more a general sense of unease and quiet murmurs of unrest among the student body.

"What happened" Tommy wanted to know.

He and the others had caught up to Billy and Trini outside of their next class in the darkness. The door remained locked as Mr. Williams was elsewhere. A few teachers were present keeping the students calm, Mrs. Applebee among them.

"It appears as the electricity required to operate the lighting system throughout this section of the school as been interrupted."

"Huh?"

"The power went out" Trini translated.

"Yeah but, what caused it." Kim wanted to know. She lowered her voice; "Do you think it could Rita?"

At the mention of that name, Jason's eyes narrowed as he carefully glanced around before answering.

"I don't think so, Zordon would have called us if anything happened."

"Then what happened?"

"Maybe the old wiring finally gave out Zack, you know how old some of that stuff is."

"Yeah, Dad said they were having power outages when he first got here."

Further conversation was delayed as Mr.Kaplan, the principal appeared in the hallway with the head custodian and a member of the electric company in two. Very quickly the teachers got the students present to pay attention and listen to what the principal had to say. Mr.Kaplan did not look happy as he cleared his throat and addressed.

"Students and Faculty of Angel Grove High School, I have some very bad news to report. Due to circumstances beyond our control, I'm afraid your school day has ended early and you are being sent home'. Wisely no one moved towards the doors at that point, there were a few muted calls of excitement though. Mr. Kaplan proceeded, 'I know you're all curious as to what happened that could caused this tragic series of events. It appears as though the wiring used in beloved AGHS is not up to our standards."

"Therefore because your safety and the quality of your education is our primary concern, we are sending you home until this unfortunate series of events can be rectified. When this is done, we will again open our doors to you the young people of Angel Grove and continue your education. Thank you, that is all I have to say, please take care and study what you have learned so that you are ready to return in top form."

Finished with his announcement, Mr. Kaplan left the hallway accompanied by the other two men. The teachers apparently also hearing the news for the first time managed to collect their wits and directed the students in a semi-orderly fashion outside. The six friends managed without too much difficulty to leave the hallway more or less intact. As they headed towards the parking lot, they caught sight of some students headed off to the office, others were lining up, waiting for the buses to arrive.

"Can you believe what Mr. Kaplan said?" Tommy said excitedly.

"I know its great, no school for awhile it'll be like a mini vacation!" Kim had a huge grin on her face.

"I know its gonna be so cool, I can work on my moves a little more to impress

Angela-" Zack stopped catching sight of the unhappy look on Billy's face.

"Billy, my main brain why the glum look? Didn't you hear, we got a get out of school pass for today and who knows how long?"

"I know Zack but I'm afraid that this unexpected interruption of scholastic studies will adversely impact not only my own educational fulfillment but also negatively influence my personal recreational activities."

There was a long pause before Trini spoke, "what Billy means is he's afraid that this vacation will hurt his grades and his hobbies."

"That's not the only thing" Jason's voice reminded them. The others turned at looked him with a puzzled look on their faces. Silently he tapped his communicator in response; "We're still on duty even if we're on vacation." The others nodded and for a moment a serious air descended on the group. That lasted until Jason addressed one of his teammates.

"So Billy, are you and Trini going to be conducting experiments that we should know about?"

"Not at this time Jason, I am still analyzing the data from my last series of experiments" Billy answered.

Jason seemed satisfied with this answer and joined the other teens in packing their stuff away in two cars, a peculiar-looking Volkswagen beetle known as the RADbug and Trini's car. Finished, Trini, Kim, and Tommy departed for the mall, to Tommy's groans. Jason and Zack rode with Billy in the RADbug

Rita's lunar palace

Rita examined the bus carefully through her Ritascope. She pored over each teen in turn, settling on the boy sitting in back. She abruptly stood up and glared at Goldar.

"YOU CALLED ME out here for this! There's nothing remarkable about these teenagers"

"My Queen," Goldar stammered, "The Crystal of detection indicates that they possess a great untapped potential..."

His voice trailed off as Rita intensified her glare at him. Feeling very unsure of himself, Goldar looked immensely relieved when Finster appeared.

"Goldar speaks the truth my Queen, the crystal is sensing something from those humans."

Rita turned her attention from Goldar to Finster and the sphere shaped crystal he held. She held her hand out and the Crystal floated across to her, settling in her palm. The sorceress turned away from her henchmen and once again gazed upon the Earth. She took time to glance from the scene on Earth to the glowing crystal in her hand.

Finished she turned away from the scope and instructed her henchmen.

"Those teenagers do possess some sort of power. Power that I can make use of with it, I can finally destroy the Power Rangers."

She paused and went on, "You will take a squad of putties down to Earth Goldar but, I have a different mission in mind for them and you."

Goldar listened intently as his mistress began outlining her latest plan. And even he was surprised at its simplicity.

Somewhere near Angel Grove.

SMACK

Sheng abruptly woke up rubbing his forehead after it hit the window. 'Damnit. And I was having a fairly decent dream too. I wonder what it would be like to win the Indy 500 for real?'

Rubbing his head, he turned and glanced around the bus noting that almost the other teens were asleep. Except for the quiet guy in back, he kept staring out the window silently. Sheng traced the boy's appearance from his faded Jeans and dark shirt to this perfectly trimmed hair, the boy was a total cipher. He gave no indication of what his life was and why he was here. Were it not for his blind 'brother' Ken, they wouldn't even know his name, Jonathan.

'Jonathan had become Jack in less then 5 seconds with Brian around, though the other boy didn't seem to care. That is one strange guy, he's American and Ken is Japanese. How weird is that? A matter of fact all these guys are strange, I miss you 'Ruka. I hope you're okay.'

He looked behind him at Brian who was asleep. 'Judging by his appearance and knowledge of the language, he's likely part Japanese but, I'm not sure. He said he's from New England but he didn't say which state or anything'.

Lost in thought, he didn't hear the quiet buzz as an oddly shaped object appeared under one of the vacant seats. As the buzz faded, the object resolved into what appeared to be an hourglass set on its side. Quietly the outer casing moved slightly, exposing small holes on each end. From these holes a small but steady release of colorless gas was released.

Sheng continued studying the others for a bit, then yawned. Before he knew it he was asleep.

Jonathan blinked as the bus hit a rough spot in the road. He tried to re-focus but again the bus hit something on the road.

'What is going on? Is the road that bad?'

Jonathan looked up at the front of the bus. A look of worry and fear spread across his face as he saw the other teens were asleep and the driver was nodding off.

"Hey Bus driver", he yelled "Sir, Sir are you all right?"

When the driver didn't answer, Jonathan's worry became fear. He stood up and tried to make his way up front towards the driver. He made just past the halfway point when the gas overcame him. He slumped down on the floor, out cold.

The Bus continued on briefly for a bit before a light purple glow surrounded it. Slowly the Bus rolled to a stop on the side of the road. As the purple glow faded, two figures from the moon appeared in flashes of light.

"See I told you I could do it better then you." Squatt waved a clawed figure at his companion."

"Do what?" Baboo inquired.

"Capture these teenagers and stop the bus for Mistress Rita of course."

"Oh that, I thought you meant skipping stones like we did last week."

"You ninny, we didn't skip stones last week."

"We didn't?"

"No, that was yesterday."

As they talked, several putty patrollers teleported in behind them. Squatt turned and addressed them; "Okay the humans Mistress Rita wants are on that bus. Go and get them."

The putties took a few minutes to figure out how to open the door. They eventually managed to push the door open and quickly swarmed the bus. Two putties went to each teen, picked each up and then teleported out.

Squatt and Baboo followed moments later. Only the bus driver remained, snoring away in an empty bus.

Rita's palace on the Moon

Rita blinked as she stepped away from the RepulsaScope. An evil grin spread across her face as her two henchmen and the putty patrol reappeared in her throne room. Squatt and Baboo quickly made they way towards her.

"Everything went as planned your highness."

"Of course it did you idiot, it was my plan!"

"Yes your highness please forgive us."

Rita ignored his blathering and pleading, intently focusing on the captured teens.

"Take them to the Room of Shadows and certain they're properly attended to."

The putties nodded and gibbering all the way, carried the teens from the area. Rita watched a gleeful look on her face as they left. 'My plan is working to perfection. Soon whatever powers these teens have will be mine and I will use to destroy the Power Rangers. Especially you Tommy, you betrayed me and I will make you pay dearly for that. As will you Zordon, for locking me into that Dumpster!

"FINSTER!"

Hours later

Sheng awoke, groggy at first with a dull, throbbing headache. He grimaced in pain and brought his hand up to his face. Only his hand wouldn't reach, he heard a jangling sound. Slowly he opened his eyes a bit, and then he opened them wide.

"What the hell!"

He was in a dark room that was best described as a dungeon. Throughout the darkness he could make out dull gray walls made of stone. White mists covered the floor, reaching up to his knees. A glance showed his arms and legs restrained by heavy, black chains. He could barely make out other figures in the room. Sheng was still trying to understand what had happened when he heard a voice.

"Oh man, I feel like the floor of a taxi cab."

Sheng blinked as he recognized the voice and whispered cautiously "Brian? Is that you?"

"Yeah, Sheng that you, buddy?"

"Yeah, its me I'm over here."

Through the darkness, Sheng could make out the grin on Brian's face. Like himself, Brian was also chained to the wall.

"Hey, how are you doing"?

"Oh, I'm doing great except for the..."

"The part about being chained up in a dank and dark dungeon, god knows where?"

"Yeah that."

"Hey you two keep it down."

"Liz, is that you?"

"Yes, this place is disgusting, I've got dirt all over my clothes, my hair's a mess and I don't know where my bags are."

"She's not the only one."

"Ken?"

"Hello, Sheng, Brian, Elizabeth and", he paused, "Sakura."

Surprised, Sheng looked around and finally spotted the Japanese girl across the way. She was quietly shaking, the light jingling of her chains echoing throughout the room. In the darkness he could see how rumpled her clothes were and the fear in her eyes.

Brian and Elizabeth turned to Ken with curious looks on their faces. "How did you know that?"

"Know what?"

"Know she was here?"

"I heard her."

"Oh."

An odd sound drew Sheng's attention away from Sakura. He quickly turned and caught sight of someone else in chains. Peering intently he recognized Ken's brother Jack in the darkness.

Brian looked around the room and spoke dryly "Well the gang's all here, who wants lunch?"

"Not funny Brian."

"Sorry."

At that moment, a large doorway outlined in white appeared and everyone quickly hushed, as it swung open. Sheng's eyes grew wide as he caught sight of the odd creatures that entered. A gigantic creature in golden armor strode forth with two creatures slinking somewhat behind him. The larger creature stepped into their midst and then apparently paused. The other two creatures also stopped and turned to look back towards the doorway.

Sheng quickly saw what they were waiting for as another figure entered the room. The first thing he saw was the large skirt followed by an odd hairpiece that split in two different directions. He also noted the large staff carried by the figure. When the figure stepped close enough, he saw with a start that it resembled a woman.

"Welcome to my palace, humans."

Brian decided to respond for his friends, "And you are"?

The woman seemed to smile maliciously and answered, "I am Rita Repulsa, Empress of Evil, the future ruler of the Earth and your future master."

Brian snapped and responded "Master? I don't even know the hell you are! All I do know is I was riding on a bus visiting the country one minute. The next minute I wake up, chained to the wall of somebody's basement. And there is a lady dressed like a demented Wizard of Oz fairy telling me She's the 'Empress of Evil' and MY future master? Give me a break."

Rita's eyes flashed red with anger at his outburst. She was silent for a few seconds, resisting the urge to obliterate the impudent youth. Slowly, she panned across the room noting the looks on each teen's face, before coming to rest on Jack's. She noted the fear present in his eyes as well as something else.

She chuckled somewhat, then raised her staff and pointed at the teens. "Time for your first lesson in obedience children", as she spoke her staff glowed a bright red before releasing green energy that spread quickly affecting all the teens. As the energy of the spell slowly dissipated, their eyes dulled and bodies relaxed.

Rita grinned, behind her Goldar, Squat and Baboo stood in silence. They turned and gawked at each other then at Goldar. Goldar also had a puzzled expression on his face. As he opened his mouth to ask a question, the doorway into the room opened.

Finster entered the room, pushing a cart filled with bottles, potions and other odd things. He stopped after reaching the middle of the room. Silently and methodically he prepared a mixture of odd liquids. The others watched in silence as he opened a bag and withdrew six needles from within. Finally, Baboo's curiosity got the best of him.

"Mistress Rita, what is going on"?

Rita smiled and answered her minion, "Finster is preparing to create the end of the Rangers."

"Huh"?

"Tell me, have any of you ever heard of Lokar"?

Goldar blinked, surprised to hear THAT name brought up, "Yes Empress Rita, he was one of the most feared and despised creatures in the universe. His 'Breath of Darkness' could transform a mundane monster to a towering, unstoppable engine of destruction."

"Yes that was him. I had him in mind when I ordered you to capture these humans and bring them to me."

"Oh mighty Empress Rita, I do not understand, what does Lokar have to do with this ceremony and THESE humans?"

"Tell me Goldar, do you know of the limitations that his 'Breath of Darkness' had?"

"No, my empress, I do not."

"The 'Breath of Darkness' is indeed a fearsome ability and one that is held in high regard by all who witness it. But it does have limits to its usefulness. The most severe being that it only affects creatures that are limited in their intelligence. The second of course is that the creature in question must be wholly devoted to the darkness."

As she spoke, Finster finished his mixing and slowly began to fill the syringes with the now orange liquid. When all six were filled, he looked back at Rita. She nodded as he placed a syringe into one of his apron's pockets and moved towards the nearest human. The closest was the boy who had kept his eyes closed, named Ken. He stopped as he reached where the boy was. Finster grabbed the teen's arm and pulled back his sleeve past the elbow. He then formed the youth's hand into a fist and urged the boy to flex briefly. As the teen did so, Finster produced a length of cord and tied it off around the elbow. Next he swapped just beneath the cord with a clear liquid and a white cloth. Finally he brought the syringe up in his right hand. With a practiced motion, he injected the syringe into the human and emptied its contents into the boy. Finished, he withdrew the needle and very neatly bandaged the teen's arm.

As Finster made his way back to his cart to get another syringe and bandages, Baboo again turned and asked Rita a question.

"Mistress Rita, what is Finster doing"?

"As I have already told you, the 'Breath of Darkness' is a powerful ability but one with severe limitations. While others were content with its performance I sought ways to improve it. First, I collected a sample of it and then I spent a great deal of effort breaking it down and learning how it works and why. I explored the very basics of the technique, seeking to learn its mysteries. It took such a long time and effort but at last I succeeded. I learned the secret of his ability."

"I learned to distill his 'breath' down to liquid form and make use of it on creatures WITHOUT the mental limitation", she paused briefly "in its liquid form, the creature's intelligence is no longer a limitation. There is still the matter of a creature being a servant of darkness. The spell I cast was one that bound their wills to me and they are now my loyal servants."

She finished speaking as Finster approached the last of the teens. As before the boy's arm was swabbed and he was injected with the liquid form of the 'Breath of Darkness'. The expression on her face changed ever so slightly as Finster finished his duty. 'What was that? A strange power I hadn't felt before coming from that boy'. Her eyes went from him to the first teen injected, 'I felt something similar with that one as well'. Rita turned and addressed her servant, "Finster, those two," she indicated Ken and Jack, "those two deserve something special."

"Yes, my empress", Finster bowed his head and began to search for something on his cart. Quickly he found a tarnished, silver flask. He opened it, releasing a small greenish cloud and a foul odor into the air. In silence he poured the contents of the flask into two metal cups, half in each. After replacing the empty flask on his cart, he turned and approached the two teens, a cup in each hand. Giving one to Jack and the other to Ken, he instructed them to drink all of the liquid. As they did so, they're bodies flashed briefly then darkened.

With an evil smile on her face, Rita aimed her staff and blasted the chains that held the teens. None moved as the chains fell to the floor noisily. 'My revenge begins now, Zordon of Eltar, I will use the very thing you tried to protect to destroy you. And as for you Tommy, I will teach you the price of treachery'. A thoroughly evil chuckle escaped her lips, quickly becoming full-blown dark laughter.

Billy's lab

Huffing slightly, Jason loaded the last item into the trunk of the RADbug. He stepped back and wiped the sweat from his brow. As he did so, he examined the trunk to make sure all the equipment was there. Jason noted one was missing, turning he saw Zack and Billy lugging the missing piece of equipment to the car. He helped them load it into the trunk. Tired, Zack spoke " Billy, man that is a lot of stuff, isn't it going to weigh the car down?"

Billy also tired took a second to respond, "Negative, I modified and installed one of Zordon's teleportation devices creating a space warper".

Jason was confused "A what?"

"A space warper is what Trini called it, I called it a trans-dimensional fold device".

"I can see why she did but what does it do?"

"It creates more space then previously existed."

"Huh?"

Sighing, Billy tapped his glasses before continuing "Normally this space", He gestured to the trunk, "contains a very limited amount of space. What the space warper does is basically alter the dimensional limits and boundaries of this specific area so that it can contain more while appearing unchanged. It's similar to how a rubber band can be stretched but not lose it's original size or shape."

"Oh" Zack said, clearly not understanding everything Billy had said.

Before Jason could comment on what Billy said, a familiar set of tones filled the air. Reflexively the other rangers looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Not seeing anyone but cautious nonetheless, Jason keyed his communicator and spoke "We read you Zordon".

"Rangers, teleport to the command center immediately, we have a serious situation unfolding".

"We're on our way Zordon."

Quickly the rangers shut the trunk, get into the RADbug and head towards the command center. The journey took less then 30 minutes much of which was spent getting out of Angel Grove itself. Outside of the town, Jason increased speed and the RADbug arrived at the command center shortly. Inside the command center, they found Tommy, Kim and Trini already waiting on them.

"Rangers." Zordon greeted them, "please observe the viewing globe."

The Rangers gathered around as Zordon continued, "Goldar has appeared on the mountain range nearby. It appears that he is attempting to locate the command center."

"He can't find us, can he Zordon?" Kim asked.

"The command center is located by several layers of shielding and cloaking fields most of which were developed after Rita had been imprisoned, the odds of him being able to locate us are extremely low".

Zordon interrupted "However Rangers, there is another danger, behold the viewing globe".

The Rangers returned their attention to the viewing globe. A group of young boy scouts appeared, apparently hiking into the woods.

"Oh no, we can't let Goldar run into those kids" Trini spoke.

The other Rangers nodded in agreement. "It's Morphin Time" Jason shouted.

"Dragonzord!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabretooth Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

Six-colored teleportation streams left the command center and touched down in the nearby mountains only seconds later. Jason surveyed the area quickly before gathering the others. "Billy any idea on where Goldar is?"

"According to his last coordinates, he is in that direction."

"All right, here we go rangers. Be careful."

Following Jason's lead, the teens made their way down the rocky path. After ten minutes they emerged from the rocks to find themselves on a rocky plateau. Jason paused as he sensed something was amiss when a familiar voice called out to him. "Lost Rangers? I'll be more then happy to show you to your doom."

His gaze quickly found Goldar standing on the opposite side of the plateau with a group of putties waiting behind him. "Okay you gold baboon. I don't know what sick plan Rita has in mind but she's not getting away with it today."

"We'll see about that, Putty Patrol, Attack!" And with that the gray colored creatures to battle the rangers in combat again. As Tommy and the others fought the putties, Jason went after Goldar, pausing only to find those enemies directly in his way. For his part Goldar sensed Jason's approach and began spinning his sword around in a circle, forming a thick cloud of dust around him that hid him from view. As the cloud formed, he taunted them again, "Yes come Rangers. Come to you r doom."

With nary a wasted motion Jason finished off the putty he was fighting and charged into the dust cloud. Only to come hurtling out of it seconds later, landing on his side and rolling to stand up again. The other rangers quickly moved to guard him and interposed themselves between their leader and the dust cloud, which was slowly dissipating.

"Jason, are you alright?"

"I'm alright Zack but something hit me."

Jason's gaze focused on the dust cloud as he waited to see his attacker's identify. He was convinced it was either a monster or Goldar. So when the cloud finally did die down, what he saw, surprised and shocked him.

Standing in the midst of where the cloud had been, was a Japanese boy roughly his age, dressed in what appeared to a black uniform of some sort. The stranger seemed to focus in his direction and though his eyes remained shut, Jason didn't doubt for one second that the kid was staring directly at him.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

"Who I am is of no importance. As for what I want, I only desire what my mistress commands me to, that is your defeat and the end of the Power Rangers."

Jason stepped in front of the others and confronted the other teen. "I don't know who you think you are but you need to tell your mistress that no one can defeat the Power Rangers. Least of all, you."

The Japanese teen laughed, "And who said I would be fighting alone." As he spoke, he raised and lowered his right hand. A few seconds later Jason heard Zack, "Jason, I think we got trouble." Trying not to take his eyes off the boy, he turned his head to the right and saw another male teen, larger then the first dressed similarly staring down at Zack. "More reinforcements here." Jason turned to his head in the other direction to see what Billy was talking about and saw yet another teen standing nearby. Like the first he was Asian in appearance with a long braid but somehow had a different facial structure.

"Guys." Trini's voice brought him back to reality and he glanced back to where she and Kim where standing and facing. Turning his head he saw what they were looking at. Two female teenagers, one Asian in appearance, looking not unlike some of Kim's friends in school save for the now familiar black garb.

"What is this?"

"As I said before Red Ranger. This is your defeat." And with those words, the teens charged the Rangers. As a group, they surprised not just by the appearances of the teens claiming to be Rita's servants but also of just how fast they moved. Jason blocked the other teen's attacks but was surprised by the strength behind them. Quickly he took advantage of an opening to knock his opponent down. Summoning his weapon, he held in front of him as the other teen got his feet.

"I don't want to hurt you."

'Too bad." With that the other boy lunged at Jason. Purely on reflex, the red ranger slashed at the attack even as his mind screamed for restraint and forced his eyes shut. Jason felt his weapon strike something and stop, with a great deal of caution he opened his eyes. The power sword had indeed struck something, the other teen's arm. And instead of a fearsome wound, the blade had simply hit his skin and then stopped.

Behind him, Jason heard Trini yell in surprise. He risked a glance backwards just in time to see something strike her and the Yellow ranger go flying. Billy likewise was distracted from his opponent, the other Asian youth. The longhaired teen crossed his arms and thrust them outwards, palms aimed directly at the Blue Ranger. As he did so, an incredibly strong blast of air, rushed forth and knocked him backwards.

Seeing her friends get knocked down rattled Kimberly enough for the other girl to grab her and flip her to the ground. As the Pink ranger lay on the ground, her assailant pointed her palm down at her. A brief glow surrounded both her hand and then she made a dismissive motion that sent Kim flying. Zack fared no better against his attacker. He had managed to avoid letting the large teen get close to him for the most part. Finally the Black Ranger had no choice but to defend himself and threw a punch that caught his attacker squarely in the chest. The teen let out a grunt and his whole body seemed to shudder briefly and then an evil smile spread across his face. With surprising speed, he grabbed Zack's arm and then started to spin in a circle while holding onto the Black Ranger. Zack felt himself leave his feet as he was being spun and then abruptly the teen let go and Zack went flying, crashing into the ground near the others.

Tommy finished disposing of the Putties that had surrounded him when the mysterious teens had attacked. He quickly took stock of the situation and arrived at a course of action. "Hang on guys, here I come." He jumped towards the others, intending to land near them and defend them from possible follow up attacks.

The Green Ranger never made it. Halfway thru the air, something slammed into him and knocked him to the ground. Tommy landed on his feet and turned to see what had hit him. It turned out to be another teen, a young man with dark brown hair and a dark air about him.

Tommy hesitated for a moment before running at his foe. When he was a few feet away, he jumped and lashed out with a spinning kick that the other teen ducked. Rising from his crouch, his attacker swung a curved strike from ground to sky with his fist that whiffed by inches on the Green Ranger. He threw a series of punches that the other teen blocked before springing backwards.

"All right, what's your deal?"

The other teen didn't answer him verbally. Instead, his right hand began glowing a soft blue, which grew in intensity as the boy drew it back and he threw the glow at the ground near Tommy. On pure reflex the Green Ranger jumped to avoid the attack. As he landed, his boots immediately slipped almost sending him sprawling. 'What the?' Tommy took a closer look at the ground and saw a layer of ice that hadn't been there before. A hollow feeling appeared in the pit of his stomach.

"You did this? But how?"

His attacker said nothing, he merely shifted his stance and stood sideways. This time his left began glowing a soft blue. As Tommy watched the glow increased in intensity and size until it covered the boy's fist. He was already moving toward his opponent with his hand griping the dragon dagger at his side. When the teen's arm extended and released the flash, Tommy leaped at him. Coming down, he saw the teen flash and he appeared to dash towards Tommy. The Green Ranger landed with his arms outstretched trying to block the coming attack. He felt something strike his arms and then something strike him in lower right torso. Tommy turned to face his attacker and felt a dull ache as though he had been struck repeatedly by Goldar's sword in the side. Then he saw why his side hurt. Extending from the back of the teen's right hand was a pair of bladelike claws. 'What are those? Is this guy even human?'

Apparently sensing he was being studied the teen turned and faced Tommy. There was no expression on his face as he met the Green Ranger's gaze.

"Tommy?"

"I'm okay Jase, what's going on?"

A chuckle drew both ranger's attention to it's source, the teen who had attacked Jason. "This as I have said before Ranger's, is your defeat." The arrogant boy held out his right hand and smiled. To Jason's surprise, the boy's palm began glowing with oddly, reddish-tinged light. Then the light changed and the teen's hand now held fire. Laughing without making a sound, the teen raised his other hand, which held a matching flame.

"Burn."

He brought both of his hands and thrust them outward at Jason. As he did so, the flames mingled and exploded out in a large fiery blast that caught the Red Ranger flat-footed. Jason first felt the heat and then the pain as the fire contacted his armor and released showers of sparks as he went flying backwards. The leader of the rangers struggled to his feet, still smarting from the fire blast.

"This isn't over yet."

Jason didn't get to finish that sentence as he and the others teleported away from the battle site. "You are correct Red Ranger. This isn't over, it's only just begun."


	2. Chapter 2

Power Rangers: Different Shades Chapter Two of the Prologue.

Author's note Yes I know, it's 'Breath of Doom' not 'Breath of Darkness'. I'll fix it. For now, enjoy the second part of the prologue.

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Zordon watched with concern over the team of teenagers he had recruited to protect the Earth. Jason, ever the leader quietly conversed with Zack, the team's unofficial second in command. Billy and Trini were at the command center's controls, trying to process and analyze the data from this latest battle. Alpha 5, his loyal robotic assistant, was tending to Tommy with a worried Kimberly standing nearby. Although the Green Ranger had been freed from Rita's control very recently, Zordon had come to regard him as closely and highly as he had any of the rangers he had chosen.

"Alpha, is he all right?"

"According to the scanner yes. It looks like his armor deflected most of the attack."

"Thanks Alpha."

The automaton nodded, and walked back to the consoles where Billy and Trini were still working. Kimberly stepped closer and took Tommy's hands in her own. "Are you really okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Tommy..."

"Zordon," Zack got everyone's attention as he addressed the group's mentor, "Who were those guys?"

"I DO NOT ZACK. RITA IS A CUNNING OPPONENT AND MAY HAVE BEEN HOLDING THEM IN RESERVE UNTIL THIS TIME. WHAT HAVE THE SCANNERS REVEALED BILLY?"

"The initial scan revealed high levels of Rita's energy signature."

"Anything else?"

"We'll know more when the deeper scan results are computed."

Jason broke his silence, "So we don't know anything really about these guys. We don't even know if they're human or not."

"The girl who attacked me looked human enough" Trini offered.

"RANGERS, IT IS WITHIN RITA'S POWER TO DISGUISE HER MONSTERS IN ANY FORM SHE WISHES. IT WOULD BE BEST TO WAIT FOR THE RESULTS OF THE DEEPER SCAN BEFORE DECIDING ON A COURSE OF ACTION."

Scant seconds after Zordon finished, the command center alarms started going off. "Oh man, now what."

"The sensors have detected one of Rita's monsters in Angel Grove," Alpha informed them, "I'll bring it up on the Viewing Globe." A few button presses later, a somewhat familiar face appeared on the globe, and a concerned look came across Jason's face.

"King Sphinx. Again."

"RANGERS. IT APPEARS THAT RITA HAS RECREATED HER KING SPHINX MONSTER ONCE AGAIN. PROCEED WITH CAUTION AS THERE IS NO TELLING WHAT NEW ABILITIES SHE MAY HAVE GIVEN HIM."

"We'll be careful. Ready guys?"

The other rangers nodded in agreement. "All right, It's back to action."

With that the rangers teleported from the command center as Zordon and Alpha watched.

The rangers landed in the mostly deserted industrial section of Angel Grove. Huge, empty buildings gave testament to what had once been a fairly busy part of the town. Currently they were vacant as the city had been unable to decide what to do with them. Walking the streets, Jason felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. As such it was a relief to run into King Sphinx and his group of Putties. The creature drawn from the sands of Egypt snarled and sent the Putties into battle against the rangers first.

As the teens battled Rita's foot soldiers, King Sphinx watched with interest while leaning against the wall. Jason finished off the putty he was dealing with a straight punch to the face. Stepping beyond the toppled creature he advanced towards Rita's resurrected monster. "Long time no see Red Ranger. This time you won't be so lucky."

"Luck had nothing to do with it. I beat you once and I'll do it again."

Behind him, the other rangers assembled waiting for the word to attack. King Sphinx saw this, took a step towards them and froze. His body convulsed briefly confusing Jason and the others. Then he started sinking to his knees. As King Sphinx touched the ground, a huge gout of flame erupted, incinerating him, leaving nothing but ash. As the fire died down, Jason caught sight of what had been behind the monster and his stomach immediately tied itself into a knot. Standing around the corner were the mysterious teens and their leader was facing him again, "As I said before Red Ranger, this is only the beginning."

With that, the leader let loose a blast of fire that Jason barely had time to dodge. Behind him the other rangers scattered and Jason was aware they were also being engaged in individual combat before the teen was upon him, attacking. Tommy's attacker from the mountains had leaped directly at the Green Ranger as soon as the battle had begun. Warily, he found himself and his opponent circling each other.

"Traitor. You betrayed the Empress."

"I didn't betray anyone. Rita isn't my Empress even if she is yours."

"Those who would turn against the Empress shall be punished. It is my duty to destroy you, Tommy Oliver."

"Yeah, well give it a try."

So saying that he and the teen charged each other and began exchanging a series of quick kicks and punches. A few feet away Trini squared off the young woman that had attacked her on the mountainside. Mindful of that battle, the Yellow Ranger addressed the girl before her, "Look I don't know what you're up to but I'm not going to let you destroy Angel Grove."

The girl seemed to consider her words before answering, "I have no interest in harming Angel Grove," she paused to run a hand thru her hair then she made backhand motion and a bolt of greenish-yellow energy blasted Trini off her feet. "Harming you on the other hand, will be a joy."

Zack was getting anxious, he was doing his best to avoid any contact with the large teen. But the boy was quicker then he appeared and had learned something of Zack's style from the first confrontation. Reluctantly the Black Ranger tried to sweep his attacker off his feet only to have his foot caught. Zack then felt like a lawn dart as the teen spun around and hurled him thru the air. He bounced off a nearby car to hit the pavement and got to his feet slowly. 'Man these guys just won't quit.'

Kimberly took an awkward stance against the girl standing before her. The female teen seemed to study her for a bit and merely shifted her arms into position. She stepped closer to the Pink ranger feigned an attack with her left arm and instead kicked at Kim's leg. On reaction, Kim moved her leg back and then kicked forward into the girl's stomach. The teen showed no reaction to blow, instead extended her hands, palms outward at Kim. A flash of purplish energy sent the Pink ranger backwards.

Billy rolled to his feet and took up a defensive stance as his attacker approached him. As soon as he was within a few feet, the teen dashed forward and threw a kick at the Blue Ranger's head. Billy ducked and retaliated with a kick of his own, aimed at the other's legs. The sweep connected and he knocked the boy to the ground. 'If he reacts like the others', Billy feinted to his left and then rolled to his right, the gamble worked and the teen's blast missed him completely. As his opponent got to his feet, Billy risked a warning, "Look out, they always use their powers after being hit."

A few feet away Jason heard his warning and dodged at the same time. Thus far he and the teen had been evenly matched. Neither had been able to score a clean hit on the other despite their best efforts. Jason had held off summoning or using either of his weapons until he could get a clear shot. Now with Billy's warning, he tried a new tactic as he deflected another punch. "I guess the sun got in your eyes on that last punch huh?"

"I haven't seen the sunrise or sunset since my birth Red Ranger. And you won't see anymore." He punctuated his sentence with a punch aimed at Jason's helmet. Jason was counting on this and dodged out of the way letting the fist slam into the wall behind him. He watched as his opponent tried to remove his hand from where it had been embedded. Jason summoned his Power sword and prepared to strike as his communicator sprang to life.

"POWER RANGERS RETURN THE COMMAND CENTER IMMEDIATELY."

"Zordon? These guys came out of nowhere."

"JASON. THAT IS WHY I HAVE CONTACTED YOU."

Reluctantly the Red Ranger lowered his weapon. "Come on guys, let's go." The other rangers regrouped around him and then teleported away. Seething the trapped teen ripped his hand free from the wall.

Jason and the others rematerialized in command center still morphed. He powered down first and then looked up at his mentor. Behind him, Billy and Trini were headed towards the console where Alpha was standing, "Zordon, why did you call us back? We had those guys on the ropes."

'THAT IS WHY I SUMMONED YOU FROM BATTLE JASON."

"I don't believe this."

Jason turned his attention to Billy. The Blue Ranger was standing holding a printout in his hand. "This is the analysis of the deep scan performed by the computer. According to this, they're human."

Kimberly interrupted, "Guys look at the Viewing Globe". The group turned their attention to familiar device as what looked like a news report was airing. Alpha quickly increased the volume. "To repeat our top story is the unexplained disappearance of six teenagers from around the world. They were in the area and disappeared from their tour bus." The camera cut briefly to a scene of the bus on the side of the road before returning to the anchors face, "The six teenagers were from around the globe and we again urge our viewers if you see them to call the police immediately." The screen flashed to pictures of the six missing teenagers lined up onscreen and all of the rangers took a deep breath.

The pictures of the missing teenagers were the mysterious teens that had attacked them in Rita's name. "But how, they threw like ice and lighting at us."

"Ice and electromagnetism actually."

"Billy?"

"According to the computer readouts. High levels of Rita's magic residue were detected on each of them. I theorize that Rita has transmutated normal humanoid vessels with the ability to manipulate as create and un-create multiple forms of energy and matter."

"Huh?"

"What Billy means," Trini began, "is that Rita changed them somehow and that now they can use special powers like the ones they used against us."

"Affirmative. If these readings are correct, then the highest readings come from those teens that were engaging Jason and Tommy."

The Green ranger was still staring at the viewing globe. His focus was on the face on the boy that had attacked him. "I can't believe she would do this… Again."

"Tommy," Kimberly gently touched him, "It's not your fault."

Jason tried to refocus on the matter at hand, "What do we know about these guys, Billy?"

The Blue ranger was making some notations on the printout. Several minutes went by before he answered, "I've been able to generate an overall estimate of their abilities and have some theories about them but I'll have to conduct more extensive tests at my lab for firmer results."

"That's fine Billy what do you have now?"

"They seem to have enhanced physical attributes as well as increased agility. Individually they also seem to have special powers over one form of energy." He looked up to see everyone following him intently. "The girl who attacked Kim appears to have some sort of mental powers."

"Meaning she's crazy?"

"No apparently she moves objects by the force of her mind alone. Telekinesis I believe that ability is called."

"Oh." "The other girl that Trini faced, she can manipulate Electromagnetism, using it as a weapon and shield." The Yellow ranger nodded in agreement.

"The male that engaged me can apparently can generate and utilize wind as a weapon."

"Yo Billy, what about the big guy? I hit him hard a couple of times but he didn't seem to slow down at all." The Blue ranger studied the printout more closely, "If I'm interpreting this correctly Zack, he can absorb kinetic energy and use it to increase his strength and other capabilities."

"Meaning that every time I hit him, all I did was make him stronger?"

"Correct."

"Billy what about the last two," Jason inquired quietly. "According to the news, they were brothers" He added.

"That makes sense. Both brothers have manifest energy manipulate and usage as a primary ability. And they have developed a secondary ability that appears more physical in nature."

Tommy spoke, "Well according to the news, their names are Jack and Ken. Jack was the one that attacked me."

"It seems he is the one that generate cold and literally the freeze the air around him. In addition, he seems to have developed two separate sets of claws per arm."

"Two? I've only see the ones that come out of the back of his hand."

"He has an additional set located near his elbow on each forearm. Those blades more closely a shark's dorsal fin in shape."

"And the other one? Ken?"

"Just as Jack can use the cold as a weapon, he can use heat and fire. His abilities in that area seem to be equivalent to Jacks. In addition, it appears he can tougher or harden his skin to the point where even something like the Blade Blaster can't cut it."

"He deflected the Power Sword too" Jason provided.

"The girl that attacked me is named Elizabeth, the boy that attacked Billy is named Sheng. The brothers are Jack and Ken. Which leaves the Brian as the one that fought Zack and Sakura as the girl Kimberly faced' Trini finished.

"One question, Ken, the dude Jason was fighting, he never opened his eyes during the fight. What's up with that?"

Billy scanned the printout before answering, "According to this, he's been blind since birth." He looked up at Jason, "Opening his eyes wouldn't do him any good."

"Yeah he didn't seem to needto either."


	3. Chapter 3

Power Rangers: Different Shades PrologueChapter Two

"Zordon, what can we do? We can't fight them, they're just like Tommy was." Kimberly's words caused the Green ranger to flinch reflexively a reaction that went unnoticed by all but Jason.

"HAVE PATIENCE KIMBERLY. WE WILL DO WHAT WE CAN."

"Theoretically we should be able to free them of whatever spell Rita has them under."

Tommy approached him and clasped him on the shoulder, "That's great Billy."

"Yes. Unfortunately we know so little about Rita's magic, devising a proper a method of cancellation could prove difficult."

His words deflated the Green ranger a bit even as Trini spoke, "I'll help you out Billy. We can do this."

"We'll all help out," Jason paused, "in any way we can. We have to help those kids. Somehow."

The others nodded their agreement.

"RANGERS. UNTIL FURTHER DATA CAN BE GATHERED THERE IS NOTHING TO BE GAINED BY REMAINING HERE. RETURN TO YOUR NORMAL LIVES. ALPHA WILL CONTACT IF WE DISCOVER ANYTHING."

Five streaks of light departed the command center leaving Zordon and Alpha to stare at the one member of the team that had elected to stay.

Billy looked up at his mentor before speaking, "Zordon I think I may have an idea."

Back in Angel Grove, the group sans Billy relaxed in the Youth Center. Or at least they tried to. Kim and Trini sat a table overlooking the workout area, watching as Tommy and Jason were instructing a group of students with help from Zack. "Something seems to be bothering Tommy."

"Yeah. I think seeing more people under Rita's control is bothering him. I don't know what I should do."

"Maybe you should talk with him," Trini suggested.

Tommy finished instructing his students and stepped back as Jason began leading the class through a kata. Tommy watched for a bit then walked over to where the girls where and took a seat. "Tommy, are you all right? You can't let Rita get to you."

"I know it's just. That could have been me. If Jason hadn't have broken Rita's spell."

"Then we would have found another way to free you. No way were we going to give up and let Rita still control you.'

"Yeah, Tommy I knew we were going to beat her and free you no matter what she tried."

The Green ranger seemed to calm down and for the first time that day, a smile spread across his face. "You guys are right. I was thinking so much about myself that I forgot I have you guys as my friends. Thanks."

That got him a smile from the girls. Jason and Zack joined the trio at the table, in Zack's case, he borrowed a chair from another table to sit down. The Red and Black rangers seemed much more relaxed then they had been. "Man, this day's been crazy. I still can't believe we're out of school for a while."

"I know what you mean I was cramming for Mrs. Appleby's test on Monday. Now I have the opportunity to attend that concert" Zack was all smiles.

"And I can help my dad out in his workshop. He's finishing up a birdhouse for the front yard."

"Well I have to go home, my mom's probably wondering why I'm late. Can you walk me home, Tommy?"

"Sure thing."

The two rangers said their goodbyes with Tommy telling the others he would be back later. Jason, Zack and Trini watched them leave with mildly amused looks on their faces. "You know I wonder if they're ever going to be able to do anything separate again."

That brought a chuckle from Jason and mock indignation from Trini, "Zack." But she lightened up after a bit then she frowned. "Is there a problem Trini?"

"I don't know. Have you seen Billy? I haven't seen him since we left the Command Center."

Jason and Zack looked at each other then at her, "We thought he was with you."

"So then he just starts laughing and milk goes everywhere."

"Oh that's gross. Funny but gross."

Tommy just looked at her and they both started laughing. "So umm…" Kim tried to get their conversation back on track, "do you really have to hurry back? My mom, she's heard all about you and she's kind of curious."

"No, I think can stay and hang out for a bit."

They laughed for a bit and started walking again, Tommy slightly in front. They had gone only a few more yards when he tensed and stopped. Kimberly bumped into him and saw that he had a concerned look on his face. "What's the matter Tommy?"

"I don't know. I just feel something weird. Do you?"

She brushed her hair back behind ear, looking around as she did so. At first nothing seemed any different, then slowly it dawned on her. How quiet the park was, nothing, not even the bugs were making noise. Kim started getting uneasy, shifting her weight back and forth on her feet. The Pink ranger felt like she was being watched the whole time.

"What is it, what's going on?"

"Whoever's out there, Show yourself!"

The sound of someone chuckling answered Tommy's demand. Abruptly He spun around and looked behind himself. "Tommy."

He turned around again to see some bushes moving and a figure stepped into view. Tommy narrowed his eyes as he recognized the intruder, it was Jack. "Greetings Green Ranger."

"You. What do you want?"

"To finish what we were started Tommy."

Kimberly opened her mouth to speak but a movement behind Jack caught her attention. As she watched the girl she had been battling appeared. Kim tried to remember the girl's name, finally it came to her. "Sakura."

The girl seemed to acknowledge her name as she took up a position beside Jack. Tommy did his best to remain calm, "Listen we know you're not doing this of your free will. Rita has you under some sort of spell. Let us help you."

"You're the one that's going to need help Green Ranger. Now enough talk."

He charged Tommy head on and attacked. Beside him Sakura advanced, somewhat slower on Kimberly and the two rangers split to face off with their adversary. Tommy and Jack circled each other before Jack made the first move, aiming a kick at Tommy's mid section. The Green ranger blocked and threw a punch Jack deflected. Mutually each teen turned up the intensity of their attacks.

Kim did a few handsprings to gain some distance from her opponent, as she landed she assumed a defensive stance. Sakura merely dashed forward a bit until she was close to Kimberly again. Kim didn't wait for her to begin and made the first move, kicking at the girl's feet in an attempt to knock her down. Sakura stepped back out of range and stepped forward throwing a rising elbow at Kim's head as she did so. The Pink ranger was able to block the move but barely.

"Time to end this game" Jack growled as a set of two claws extended from the back of his hands. Simultaneously Sakura made a motion with her hand summoning rocks, tree limbs and other objects to rise off the ground. The debris started spinning and orbiting around her as she focused in on Kimberly. Jack advanced slowly towards the Green ranger taking each step with deliberation. After closing to within a few feet he stopped, looked downward while lowering his fists. At the same time, Sakura appeared to lose focus causing some of her impromptu weapons to fall to the ground.

Confused Tommy and Kimberly lowered their guard. As soon as they did so Jack snapped his head up and dashed forward with a speed Tommy didn't believe was possible. As he did so, Sakura sent all of telekinesis-powered missiles flying directly at Kimberly. Before either attack struck their intended target, Tommy and Kim vanished in streams of green and pink light. Jack's claw sliced thru a tree behind where Tommy had been as Sakura's missiles slammed together at the exact spot Kim had been.

"Green Ranger..."

Tommy and Kim rematerialized in the Command Center reeling from the suddenness of the attack. Looking around they noted none of the other rangers were present aside from Billy who seemed to be working on something. Tommy spoke first, "Zordon what just happened?"

"ALPHA WAS MONITORING THE PARK FOR ANY DISTURBANCES WHEN HE NOTED THE ACTIVITY OF THE TEENS AND YOUR BATTLE WITH THEM. I HAD HIM TELEPORT YOU HERE."

Just then, the Blue ranger emerged from one of the Command Center's many back rooms. He was looking at a printout when he noticed the presence of the others. "Tommy, Kimberly? Why are you here?"

Briefly Tommy explained, finishing up with, "Man we're lucky to be here. One more second and I might be feeling like a dartboard." Kimberly moved close and lightly took Tommy's arm in her hands.

"I'm happy you're all right and sustained no serious injuries" He paused to spare a glance at Zordon. "Zordon, this does seem to support my hypothesis."

"I AM AWARE OF THAT BILLY. HOWEVER THIS DOES NOT CONFIRM YOUR THEORY ON THIS MATTER."

"What theory? Billy what are you and Zordon talking about?" Tommy wanted to know.

"I have a theory that relates directly to this group of teenagers Rita is controlling and how it affects us. Alpha, could you call Jason and the others, I don't want to explain myself twice."

In a few minutes, red, yellow and black teleport streams appeared in the Command Center. After Tommy and Kim again explained what had happened in the park, Billy again examined the printout he held. Trini was listening to Kim while shooting glances from time to time at Billy. Zordon waited until they had finished their story before speaking.

"RANGERS, BILLY HAS FORMULATED A THEORY BEHIND THE ATTACKS OF RITA'S TEENS."

"Let's hear it Billy" Jason spoke for the group.

"My analysis of the data on them and of each encounter with them suggests they are following a predictable plan of attack against us. They seem to programmed to seek out individual rangers during battle."

Tommy blinked as he thought about what Billy said, "So you're saying they are attacking us based on a pattern?"

"Correct. You and Kimberly were alone in the park yet only two of them appeared to attack you. And it was the same two teens that had previously battled you. I believe they have been enchanted by Rita to seek out specific rangers in combat."

Tommy thought about the cold look in Jack's eyes and the echo of his words rung fresh in his mind. Jason interrupted his contemplation, "Billy if your right, then where we go, we can expect to battle the same opponent over and over again."

Zack seemed let down, "That's just great. Now I can look forward to seeing that big guy every time we morph. Great."

"RANGERS, ALTHOUGH THIS IS NOT GOOD NEWS, BILLY'S THEORY MAY HELP PREVENT FUTURE SURPRISE ATTACKS."

"You're right Zordon. Thanks Billy."

"You're welcome Kimberly. I only wish I had more good news."

"Hey man, don't worry about it. We know more now then we did. We'll find the way to beat these guys."

Billy simply nodded in response.

Billy sighed as he walked, an assignment for his science teacher had turned into an invite to visit and tour one of Angel Grove's largest and most advanced science labs. Previously he would have been amazed and perhaps even awed by what he saw. However in service as a Power ranger, he had been exposed to technology and concepts he had only dreamt of. 'It's very difficult view the articles in Scientific American the same since becoming a ranger. They're still stuck on concept of only a few dimensions as opposed to many.'

Deep in thought he wound his way through another section of the lab. Ever since Rita's return, many businesses in the area had found themselves targets of collateral damage from the frequent battles with her monsters. Thankfully, one of the side effects of each victory for the rangers was the restoration of whatever damage had been inflicted. Still, some companies had either left the area or relocated. The lab he had been touring was in the process of relocating to a place further outside the city limits. As a result large sections of it were lightly staffed if at all.

Deep in thought as he was, he didn't notice anything was different for several minutes. A random blast of wind from nowhere pushed a box filled with parts off a shelf in front of him. He stopped short as it crashed to the ground in front of him. "Well that was unfortunate" he knelt to examine the parts. As he looked over each, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The wind returned this time stronger before dying down. Slowly Billy looked over his right shoulder behind him. Watching him with a casual air was Sheng, the teen he had theorized that was after him specifically. With deliberate slowness, Sheng unfolded his arms and assumed a fighting stance. Faced with this situation Billy did what any sane person would do, he ran.

Surprised Sheng watched him flee and then growled. He took off after the fleeing Blue ranger. Billy raced down thru the facility not sure what he was looking for. By chance he found himself in a storage area where empty glass containers lined the shelves. Hearing footsteps behind him, he paused ever so slightly and then raced down the aisle. As he did so the glass containers started flying off the shelves, pushed by the various wind gusts his pursuer generated.

Coming out of that lab, Billy looked down to see metal grating under his feet. Knowing that the other teen was still after him, he looked around and an unorthodox idea sprang to mind. Listening to the sound of glass crunching underfoot he decided to go with his idea.

Sheng emerged from the lab annoyed. He eyed his surroundings with a great deal of contempt as he searched for his target.

"Hey!"

He turned and focused in the direction of the voice. Billy was standing already morphed on the other side of the room amidst some materials and devices. The teen growled and charged the Blue ranger. Billy was already prepared for this and reacted. He jammed the end of his blade blaster into his hastily assembled converter and fired. The energy from his weapon was converted into electricity that raced through the metal gratings throughout the lab. Thanks to his armor and boots in morphed state, Billy was safe. Sheng however was not and the electricity coursed through his body, after a few seconds, it finished discharging and he slumped to the floor.

Billy quickly made his way over to the teen and checked first for a pulse. Finding one, he had to quickly decide what to do. After going over his options, only one seemed viable. He keyed his communicator, hoping he knew what he was doing.

"Alpha, Zordon. Come in, I have an emergency."


End file.
